Fenton Research Weblog

Where have all the flyers gone?

An article in the May 9th 2009 edition of The Economist describes consumer debt and spending in the US today and the potential road to recovery.

One interesting comment and graphic talks about how "financial innovation (also) played a role (in high US consumer borrowing/debt) as the industry devised new ways for Americans to borrow against their homes.  One manifestation was the plethora of credit-card offers... more than 8 billion poured into American's mailboxes in 2006, according to Mintel Comperemedia..."

Global brands ranking 2009

The FT have published the Global Top 100 Brands (by value) - Source: Millward Brown Optimor (including data from BrandZ, Datamonitor and Bloomberg).  Within the financial institution ranking, note the rise of China's banks and the fall of big names such as Bank of America.  Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and UBS have dropped out of the Global Top 100 altogether.

Google-omics

As reported in The Economist 18th April 2009, Google's chief economist believes "that data on internet searches can help predict certain kinds of economic statistics before they become available".

The fluctuations and frequency of certain searched words and phrases can help predict, for example, retail sales figures, house sales or eventual tourist arrivals to certain countries/territories.  Data is available through Google Trends.

Global Financial Centres: 2009 & 2019

The Knight Frank/Citi Private Bank Wealth Report 2009 asked contributors to rank key global financial centres, now and in 10 years time.  Note the rise of Beijing, Shanghai and Mumbai, and the fall of Hong Kong, Singapore and Frankfurt.

World Cities Survey 2009

The Knight Frank/Citi Private Bank Wealth Report 2009 includes the first edition of Knight Frank's World Cities Survey.

Each city has been assessed against four criteria and awarded a ranking from one to 40 for each category: economic activity, political power, knowledge & influence, quality of life.

  

The Wealth Report 2009 - HNWI's

Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank have published their Wealth Report 2009.  The report covers a variety of 'wealth issues' including the impact of the economic downturn, attitudes towards wealth, property trends and investment trends:

- the credit crunch and global recession (could) mean the number of high net worth individuals falls as, on average, most individuals have experienced a fall in total wealth of between 20% and 40%

- (in the future) clients (will) actively seek out independent advice and recognise this as a value solution

- direct investment could be key, for example asset classes such as private equity, real estate, venture capital

Pump up the jam

According to PRS for Music, the royalties collection society for songwriters and composers, British musicians earned £139.6m from overseas markets in 2008, up from £121.2m in 2007.  This increase could be partly due to increased airplay and usage, particularly in eastern Europe and Latin America.

From Pollstar's Top 10 royalty earners ranking, it would appear the oldies are definately still the goodies...

  

Because you're worth it

Following on from my post Pucker Up, apparently the Foundation Index is ready to overtake the Lipstick Index as foundation becomes the pick-me-up of choice for women during the recession.

According to L'Oreal, one third of 18 and 19 year olds (in the UK) cited foundation as their most essential beauty product, whereas only 8% of respondents (primarily over 60's) cited lipstick as their favourite.

The rise and rise of the supermarkets

First the pubs, now the banks.

FT 30/03/09 - "(Tesco) will open 30 branches of what is likely to be branded Tesco Bank within existing supermarkets before the end of this year."

What is Britain coming to?

According to a study by the IGD (Telegraph 21/03/09), there are now more supermarkets (55,854) in Britain than pubs (54,818 end 2008).  This could be a result of:

• supermarkets selling cheap drink e.g. beer and cider
• above inflation increases in beer duty

and perhaps the smoking ban, although this isn't cited in the Telegraph article.

As well as an example of a failing industry/institution, the article touches on the decline of community and neighbourhood services within British society, the pub being one of them.  And the local newspaper being another.